Riding to GLory
by Inuki Moon
Summary: This was originally Death to the Foes of the Elves New title. Yippee! Also, this is the first story in my series. Read the others after!
1. Default Chapter

Riding into Glory  
  
Disclaimer: You don't REALLY think I own Legolas, do you?  
  
CHAPTER ONE Rana pulled her bow quickly from her back as the orcs and wargs behind her growled. Seizing arrows from the soft quiver that hung at her side, she quickly shot them. She cried out in pain as an arrow scored her arm deeply, but she soon forgot about it. She almost never got hurt when fighting, but the few orc archers scattered among the group were skilled. Turning to the large oak tree behind her, she ran up its trunk at stood in the branches. The orcs shouted up at her, but she wouldn't even consider that it was safer on the ground. She shot as she ran through the limbs, killing all but twenty of an original forty before her arrows ran out. She grimaced, knowing she could jump to the ground and use her swords, or she could throw her prized knives at them. She didn't place the value of the knives over her own life though, so she pulled them out. Rana looked at the matching daggers, both having long curved blades, and blue and silver lacquered hilts. She only looked for a second though, before tossing them with deadly accuracy at the orcs. She pulled more and more of these matching dagger sets, all in different colors, like red and gold, black and silver, black and gold, and with different engravings on the blades.  
"Hate to do this but oh well." She tossed the last set, two daggers with black and silver hilts, and stabbed another orc in the back.  
' Have no other choice now. Gotta go down there.' She thought. She jumped from the branches, not making a sound.  
"Oh man!" Rana suddenly thought. "I'm the world's biggest idiot! Raeo!" Whistling, a large black stallion, son of Shadowfax himself, came galloping at full speed up a hill. Rana leaped on him as he passed.  
Whirling behind the last four orcs, she grabbed the sword of a slain orc's scabbard and rode past them. Trusting to her long time ability of swords, she threw the sword, which went through one orc to decapitate another. Raeo dashed on her command to circle the last two, and repeated the last move. Unfortunately, one orc escaped, stabbing her as he went, and Rana couldn't catch him with anything from that distance, so she was forced to let him go.  
Sighing, she picked up all of her usable arrows up and put them in the quiver. She had most of them back. But the daggers would be harder to find, and it would be messy hunting through the bodies to find them anyhow. She set to work, finding them all in an amazingly short amount of time. She hid them in small sheaths that were hidden all over her body.  
She thought for a second before pulling out her two swords. They rested in their own specially made scabbards. She looked at Nardurlos, a long sword that had a tracing of seven stars and a crescent moon on the blade. The hilt was blue and silver. Placing it into the scabbard again, she looked at Fortanya. Rana herself had forged Northfire, which was Fortanya's translation. It was shorter, and had a strange shape. With a great curve, the blade ended in a flat point that was wider than at the top. It had the same tracing on it, but also had a red and silver hilt. Everyone was always so jealous of those swords.  
Putting Fortanya back in the scabbard, she swung onto Raeo, who had been standing quietly the entire time. Trotting towards the distant form of Mirkwood, she kicked him into a gallop. As Raeo was one of the fastest horses around, next to Shadowfax, the two reached the elven area quickly.  
Jumping off her horse, she walked through the different sections of the homes and shops while leading him. Seeing the palace of the king, she walked in.  
Rana knew her way around the palace, but she hadn't been there in well.... about two hundred years, now that she thought of it. So instead of stumbling around, trying to remember certain places, she instead asked a nearby servant for the prince Legolas.  
Looking around, Rana saw a few changes. The tapestries had a few new ones hanging on the walls, and there were plenty of things hanging around she hadn't seen before. Walking to the weapons wall, she stopped as usual and admired the different bows, swords, daggers, and numerous other old weapons.  
Turning around, she saw Legolas walking towards her, many feet off. She smiled up towards her pointed ears. When he arrived, she greeted him, as he gave her a huge hug.  
"Hey, Rinny!" He said. He had always used Rinny for her nickname, saying that it suited her personality perfectly.  
Rana surprised the both of them and gave him a kiss on the cheek. A long time ago, they had dated, but they almost never saw each other.  
"Ow! My arm.... I forgot about it entirely!" she cried out. Touching it gently, she pulled her hand away covered in bright blood.  
"Here, follow me. I can help you. Okay?" Legolas said, holding her hand softly and pulling her to his room. Going to a shelf that was almost invisible, he pulled down several bottles of liquids. Opening one, he dabbed some of the contents onto a white gauze pad. He added several more liquids to it, before placing it on her arm and binding it to keep it on.  
"Ahhh, much better. Thanks. " She shocked them both again by kissing him, on the lips this time. Rana blushed a little, but it was hardly noticeable. Hopefully.  
Walking back outside with her, Legolas surprised her instead by drawing a... spoon. Rana grinned, and pulled her own spoon from a saddlebag.  
"Spoonfight, for old times sake?" Legolas asked. They had spoonfought when they were kids, before they were allowed to have swords.  
"You know it!" Rana replied enthusiastically. They did this for a few minutes before the realization of exactly what they were doing and with who sunk in and they drew back from each other embarrassedly.  
"Um..." Legolas started, but he stopped, so Rana felt compelled to start a conversation...or in this case, end it.  
Swinging onto her horse, Rana said, "Well, Legolas, I have to go now. I'm going to ride to Gondor, see Aragorn before going home to Lorien. "  
"Can I come with you?" Legolas asked, than realized what exactly he had said and blushed again.  
Rana didn't seem to notice. "Sure!" she said. "Go get Arod and meet me back here!"  
"Um, okay!" Legolas ran to the paddock and called for Arod, who galloped to him happily. Swinging onto to him, he called to a servant to tell his father, the king that he would be back in a few weeks or so. Turning Arod, he and Rana started galloping towards the general direction Gondor would be in. 


	2. Chapter Two

CHAPTER TWO  
  
Disclaimer: I told you! It's not mine!  
  
For several days, the two rode to Gondor, stopping as little as they could to rest, just riding contentedly together again, as they had done so often before.  
One day, however, as they rode, Rana caught sounds of battle. Leaving their horses to check it out, they saw a party of orcs fighting several men. Bodies lay everywhere, and there were only about ten or fifteen men left on the field, fighting as many as thirty orcs. Running back to their horses, Rana and Legolas armed themselves with every weapon they had. Rana pulled her knives, her replenished supply of arrows, her bow, and her swords. Legolas seized his knives and his bow. Rana decided to bring Raeo with her, while Legolas would leave his behind. Riding double, they came down on the orcs hard, Rana holding her swords out to either side as they passed through. Legolas shot as many as he could with his bow, and they charged Raeo into the orcs to try and break their bones and render them helpless.  
As the horse approached, Rana scanned the surviving orcs to try and guess what weapon she would need with them. As her gaze passed over a particularly grizzled goblin, Rana froze her movements. It was the same orc who had injured her in the first few days of her ride. Growling slightly, yet smiling, the orc obviously recognized her as well. Rana jumped from Raeo, paying no attention to Legolas' frenzied shouts. As she leaped, Rana pulled Nardurlos from its scabbard, and rolled to the ground. She attempted to cut out the orc's legs from under him, but to no avail. So instead, she got up from the ground. Holding Nardurlos in front of her, she stepped forwards quickly and stabbed at him. Laughing at her, the orc stepped aside and dodged her. Twisting back, she tried again and again. Finally, she was sweating heavily and breathing hard. She huffed, furious that he should avoid her for so long. She stopped, and pulled in a deep breath. Barely capable of holding her sword up, she held it for a final thrust....and managed to slice his head off with a neat stroke. She gaped at the fallen body, and then turned to kill any remaining orcs. Legolas, however, had taken care of them all himself....and had been injured. Rana ran to him, bending down out his side.  
"Rana?" Legolas said, his voice raspy.  
"Yeah? Legolas, where's the medicine gone? And all your stuff for healing?" She questioned, now very worried.  
"In Arod's saddlebag. Go get it all. I'm going to need them." Rana started dashing to Raeo before Legolas finished. Jumping onto his back, she rode to Arod, who was rolling his eyes and dancing nervously. Taking the saddlebag off his shoulders, she put it on her own horse and led the other at a gallop to his fallen rider. Once she did, though, even she couldn't heal his injury. That much was obvious from the way his shoulder was spewing blood, and the wound turned black right in front of her. Legolas turned and groaned, and tried to sit up. He collapsed to the ground, and said nothing more. He would have to go to her best friends, Eruvande, Almatari, and Alataria. They were the best healers she knew, but they were in the opposite direction. With a last regretting look at the distant Gondor, she quickly made a litter between Arod and Raeo and put Legolas on it. His eyes fluttered open, but she quieted him then set the horses at a trot. Rana herself jogged next to the horses. She didn't want to tire Raeo out on the journey to Lothlorien. 


	3. Chapter Three

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ ONE WEEK LATER  
  
CHAPTER THREE:  
  
Disclaimer: Must I repeat myself?  
  
Rana dragged herself to the realm of the Lady of the Golden Wood. She staggered, hardly capable of standing at her state and condition. Legolas lay still on the litter, and Rana feared all her efforts were too late. The horses followed her up there, so tired they could barely stand up straight. Rana looked around for someone to help her, but she saw nobody. In a minute, however, she heard the approach of elves, and whirled to meet them. She didn't speak to them, just indicated the fallen Legolas on the litter, before collapsing herself.  
When Rana woke up, she saw that she had been placed in a bed in a large room. Nearby, her best friends Eruvande, Almatari, and Alataria were watching her. Sitting up in the bed, she groaned then thumped back down. Eruvande walked over to her, worry showing on her face.  
"Hey, you alright now? You crashed right on the steps. Pretty embarrassing." Rana started to protest to this, then realized that Eruvande was joking. Smiling slightly, she gasped.  
"Where's Legolas? Is he okay? What was wrong?" She asked in a flurry. Eruvande laughed again.  
"Down the hall, yes, struck by an arrow." Rana looked at her quizzically then laughed herself.  
"Can I go see him?" she said eagerly.  
"Sure. Follow me!" Eruvande turned to leave, and Almatari and Alataria followed her. As they walked, Rana really looked for the first time since arriving at her friends, and how they had changed. Alataria still looked much the same, her long red gold hair setting off her freckles. As she turned to grin at Rana, her grey eyes sparkled in the light. Looking at Almatari, Rana realized that she looked older, even for elves. Her brown hair perfectly matched her striking brown eyes pierced everything. And Eruvande, her oldest friend, had grown out her wavy blonde hair and her emerald eyes had grown even brighter.  
All of them, however pleasant they looked, carried weapons and had an under laid grim look. Eruvande carried her beautiful bow, Almatari had her usual bow and sword, and Alataria carried two daggers. Rana searched for her own weapons, but didn't find them.  
"What did you guys do with my stuff?" she demanded. Eruvande smiled.  
"Chill, Rana. We put it up, because we wanted you to get this surprise we've been keeping from you. Come on. Follow us." Walking down a hall, Almatari explained,  
"We've been holding this for a while. But you haven't come to Lorien in so long..." she trailed off. Rana felt guilty. She knew she hadn't visited Lorien in at least a year, and all this while her best friends wanted her to come.  
Alataria smiled.  
"Don't feel bad. Here it is." Alataria turned into a room, and Rana saw inside several of her favorite things in the world. The first was Legolas, sleeping in his bed. The second was all her weapons, in their scabbards or cases, neatly put away. The third, she was delighted to see, was a pair of large wolves sitting on each side of the bed.  
"Oh my god! You guys, thanks so much!" she exclaimed.  
"Their names are Kala and Indo." Alataria explained. "Light and Heart. Duh." She grinned at Rana.  
Rana suddenly remembered Legolas, lying on the bed sleeping. Indicating him, she whispered, "What did you guys do? I know you, Eruvande, are one of the best healers here, but he seemed pretty bad."  
Eruvande smiled; her face lighted up when she did.  
"Thanks. He needed some rest and food, but what happened is- well..." she trailed off.  
Alataria, suddenly grim, walked to a shelf and held up a twisted, black arrow. The head was broken at the top, leaving a jagged, sharp point.  
Rana paled considerably. Orc arrows had always been dangerous, but most recently, they had been made with poison in the tip. Though most were not so dangerous, as the one that struck Rana, there were some poisoned ones. If anyone was struck close enough to the heart....  
"Is he okay?" Rana whispered. Almatari smiled, and nodded slightly.  
  
"Go wake him up. He's such a lazy elf." She grinned.  
Walking over to the bed, Rana shook him slightly. Cracking open one of his large, beautiful blue eyes, he smiled. Sitting up slightly, he hugged Rana tightly, and gave her a kiss. Rana smiled down at him, and sat next to him on the bed.  
"Hey. Feeling any better?" Rana said, quietly.  
"Much. Give me a few days, a week at most, and I'll still smoke you in archery." Rana grinned at this. She was actually better than Legolas, but they always pretended she wasn't. To be completely truthful, Rana and Legolas were both known as some of the best warriors of many elves. But Rana beat Legolas out at weaponry; as Legolas beat Rana at leadership, and ruling an area, as befit his princely status.  
"There is something, kinda having to do with what you guys are talking about, that you should know about." Alataria said suddenly. Rana jumped up. She had forgotten they were there.  
"What is it?" Rana asked urgently.  
Looking at Eruvande, the other two decided to let her take over.  
"There's been war. Since you guys have been away from Mirkwood, which is actually much longer than you think...war has broken out in Mirkwood, and the surrounding areas. Like I said, you've been away longer than you think." Eruvande said quietly.  
"How long?" Legolas said dully.  
"More than a month." She said, looking away from them.  
Rana felt amazement bubble up inside her.  
"How is that possible? At absolute most, a week and a half." Rana said furiously.  
"We've been drugging both of you to keep you sleeping. You haven't been ready, and we knew that if we let you get up, and hear the news, you'd both try and get away. We couldn't let you do that. As it is, you are awake and ready to go." Eruvande handed them both sacks filled with their belongings.  
Rana looked in her bag. She saw all of her weapons, except for her swords, which Almatari held, and other supplies that would be necessary for the trip to the battle.  
Looking back up, she looked at her grim friends with tears in her eyes.  
"It's really going down isn't it?" She said, starting to cry.  
Alataria nodded. "Yes." 


	4. Chapter Four

CHAPTER FOUR:  
  
Disclaimer: Listen here! No ownership!  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ THE NEXT DAY  
  
As Rana lay in her bed, trying to sleep, she though about all that had happened.  
Eruvande had told her everything she could.  
"Rana, what's been happening has been popping up, completely randomly. You know that you and Legolas are the best available to go. Actually, you're pretty close to the best of ANY. You two know you're good. You have to go." She finished.  
Rana looked up sadly. "I know. But...I wasn't expecting this. When do we leave?" she questioned, wondering why that hadn't come to her earlier.  
Almatari looked grimmer than ever.  
"Now." *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~TWO DAYS LATER  
  
Rana and Legolas creeped up quietly.  
"Is it just me, or does it seem like we've done this before?" Rana whispered to Legolas. He nodded his head, never taking his eyes away from ahead.  
Walking silently, they soon heard the sounds of fighting, which had become extremely familiar in the part two months. Rana gasped once they reached the crest of a hill.  
All below them, they saw horrible scenes of death and destruction. Bodies lay everywhere around them, mutilated terribly and bloody. Screams and groans of dying warriors were in the air all around them, from elves and orcs.  
Kala snuck behind Rana, along with Indo. On a whistle from Rana, they padded silently down the scene, and began to wreak havoc of their own.  
Rana was mystified. She had hunted alongside wolves before, but she hadn't been a hunt with one in at least one hundred years. Also, when she had, they hadn't been at a battle scene.  
They ran without any noise, and killed quickly, pulling orcs down without any sound whatsoever. Rana, who had been born with several abilities, including Foresight, telepathy, and the ability to communicate with animals, heard the thoughts in their mind as they ran. Full of hatred for the orcs, though wolves in general had often sided with them in other things, they ripped through flesh, bitter blood squirting into their mouths. Rana felt the horrible flow of blood in her own mouth, and almost gagged.  
Rana decided it was time to come in herself. Drawing her bow, she ran to Raeo, shooting arrows as she ran. Leaping gracefully onto his back, she charged him into the battle.  
Seizing her swords, Rana held them out to both sides and decapitated many orcs, drawing her arms up to keep from killing the other elves who were fighting. They watched as she rode through the many still alive.  
As she rode, she felt...strange. A peculiar feeling overcame her. Strangely enough, she felt as though she were flying rather than riding.  
Calling the wolves back to her, they ran alongside. Rana turned as she heard Legolas gallop up. She turned to him, and grinned.  
Together they rode through the army, slaughtering. Rana pulled Raeo to a stop when they reached the end, and turned her horse around.  
Rana rubbed her legs along Raeo's sides, and he reared high into the air. Holding her swords above her head, she called out to the elves that were left.  
"Ride west!" 


End file.
